The Adventure Chronicle

Photography

Ang Thong is a small village between the historic city of Ayutthaya and the monkey town of Lopburi. There isn’t much to be seen in the city. It’s streets are calm and the seven eleven and one mugatua seem to be the only community hangouts. Occasionally a blacked-out Mercedes or Porsche will speed through; a […]

What seems like an eternity ago, Tony and I stumbled off a plane, brushed our teeth, dawned some jackets, and spent seventeen hours in Seoul. The trip was highlighted in the first real blog post and first episode, but since then I’ve hardly looked back at the place. Well with upcoming travel and some newly […]

A short motorbike ride from Kanchanaburi will run you into Muang Sing Historic Park (เมืองสิงห์). The park contains the remains of two Khmer style temples built in the 13th and 14th century and a prehistoric grave site. The name Muang Sing translates directly as Lion City. Unfortunately there are no lions to be found roaming […]

Construction of the famous Wat Wang Wiwekaram started in 1982 under the direction of the Abbot Luang Pho Uttama. It was built in similar style to the Buddhagaya Temple in India and is now a pilgrimage site for Indian Buddhists living in Thailand. 400 Mon people fabricated 260,000 bricks and donated a majority of the […]

Back in 2007 I studied abroad in China. An interest in the orient led me there and the five month study/travel session is most likely to blame for why I’m back in Asia now. China was amazing. The people, the food, the sites – it was a galaxy away from anything I had known and […]

The guidebook calls them “the Palestinians of Asia” – Facing persecution in their homeland of Mayanmar, thousands of refugees have fled to border towns along the west of Thailand. The Thai government won’t recognize the over 50,000 Mons as citizens, resulting in no medical care or government education. The Mon town in Sangkhlaburi was impoverished […]

For the 4th of July I headed east to Khao Yai National Park which, like Kanchanaburi, is so close to Bangkok there are few reasonable excuses why it took this long to visit. Like many previous weekend trips, it included no planning. And by no planning I mean, I picked where I was going when […]

Tham Lod stands in my mind as one of the most amazing sites in Thailand. It was the unplanned highlight of the Mae Hong Son Loop motorbike trip. Drive down a long wooded trail, take a bamboo raft, rent a lantern-wielding tour guide, and enter Tham Lod caves: a massive cavern with miles of tunnels, […]

After riding the Mea Hong Song Loop, Hannah and I retreated to Chiang Dao, looking to rest for a few days. Followers may recognize this name from ROTE’s previous adventures, one of our first in Thailand, when I dumped the bike. Chiang Dao is not only the third tallest mountain and one of the best […]

As a study of Iran would be incomplete without a study of Islam, so would a study of Thailand be without an understanding of Buddhism. In a country in which over 90% of its population refers to themselves as proscribing to one religion there can be no separation drawn between Thai culture and Thai Buddhism. […]

The atmosphere in Bangkok remains tense in the aftermath of the chaos that unfolded earlier this week. As construction crews begin the long process of rebuilding, roadblocks manned by the Thai Army and razor-wire are still spread throughout the city. The subway and light-rail systems are closed and a 9 pm nightly curfew will remain […]

Bangkok’s Warzone – May 18th, 2010 Walking around Bangkok today was more difficult than ever before. The army has completely sectioned off much of the city with razor-wire barricades, roadblocks, and hundreds of checkpoints. I eventually managed to squeeze my way past the security and walk through the main stage of the Redshirt camp near […]

There is a long tradition of ‘getting off the path’ and literally finding your own paradise in Thailand (see Alex Garland’s “The Beach”). Exhausted from out first semester teaching in Thailand, Cengiz and I tried to do just that. We were planning on going South all semester since the beautiful, southern, white sand beaches are […]

Tensions have increased dramatically in Bangkok over the past few days. A leading Redshirt commander was shot in the head by a sniper, the Thai army surrounded the Redshirt stronghold, and several people have been killed. Gunfire could be heard around Lumphini Night Bazaar Friday night and a bus was blown up. Expectation for an […]

This bizarre collection of concrete statues named the Buddha Park or Wat Xieng Khuan is 20 km south of Vientiane, Laos. The park contains over 100 intricately carved statues from religious folklore. It was built in 1958 by shaman Luang Pu who mastered Buddhism and Hinduism. After being forced to flee Laos during the 1975 […]

Haw Phra Kaew is one of the oldest temple in Vientiane. It was built in 1565 by King Setthathirath as a place to hold the Emerald Buddha– which is now on display at Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok. The temple was destroyed several times during the wars with neighboring Siam, but French colonizers rebuilt the […]

As ultra-violent sports gain popularity in western countries, the gender barriers in Thailand have fallen, allowing women to participate in sporting events once considered taboo. Thai superstitions presume that female boxers (Nak Muay Ying) will jinx any ring they fight in and bring injury to male fighters. Men and women are still forbidden to fight […]

Laos, like Thailand and Myanmar, celebrates the new years during the second week of April. It’s the hottest time of the year in Southeast Asia and to help relax in the heat, the week-long event has become a giant water-fight. Super-soakers are sold on street corners and hoses are pointed at the road: hopefully a […]

Wednesday April 28th Redshirt protesters clashed with police and army forces in north Bangkok’s Don Muang district. Witnesses said the army shot no warning teargas and used live ammunition; firing into a group of protester and wounding 16. One Thai soldier was killed by a shot to the head but it remains unclear as to […]

Friday was spent walking through the streets of Bangkok’s financial district waiting for the tension to break. Nothing happened. The protesters and riot police sat around ‘strengthening’ their bases on either side of the barricade. Tires were moved and police rotations made. There was lots of screaming but after Thursday’s bomb attack neither side […]

Patpong is the showcase for Bangkok’s red-light nightlife located in the center of the Silom Financial District. On an average weekday it boasts a street full of tourists, a night bazaar, and plenty of drinking establishments; that was until the Red Shirts decided to march on Silom. After the government learned of the protesters’ plans […]